The One I Love
by Maria Cella
Summary: Was a Gippalai Day story, so some fluff. The group goes out clubbing but Gippal is brooding over something, will he tell Baralai about it or just get drunk? Oneshot


A/N:

9-10-04: This was my Gippalai Day story. Since it was originally a oneshot I ended it kind of quickly and differently than I would have done if I had been planning on continuing it. I got a better response than I had expected and decided to change it a little bit. Really only the ending of the first chapter changed, and I will later add a second chapter (maybe more). I like this one better.

9-1-04: I own nothing, except maybe the story line, which I only did because I heard about Gippalai Day from Hidama. I actually wasn't planning on doing anything but I read some early postings and decided to do something. I came up with this about 1 a.m. I'm not expecting a lot of reviews but somebody tell me if it was worth the bother. Gippalai is my favorite couple but this is the first time I've written about them. Named after REM song, which I don't own, but doesn't really use the song.

The One I Love

Chapter 1:

"Welcome to Karaoke Night!" announced the owner of the hottest club in Bevelle. "Now this is usually for amateurs but tonight we were fortunate enough to have Lady Yuna and her cousin Rikku offer to perform a song for us. So, how about a round of applause for these two lovely ladies."

Rikku and Yuna rose amidst cheers and made their way to the stage. They told the band their selection, an upbeat dancing tune. People around the room rushed out onto the dance floor.

Baralai sat down at a table next to Gippal. "Why aren't you dancing?" he shouted above the music.

"I don't feel like it," Gippal replied grumpily.

"What's the matter with you? You've been acting strange all night." Tonight the whole group was celebrating LeBlanc and Nooj finally getting engaged. They'd been club hopping all night and weren't likely to stop anytime soon. But Baralai had noticed Gippal acting unusually pensive, especially for him.

"I've just been thinking. I mean, have you noticed how everyone seems to be settling down lately. Yuna has Tidus, the old man is finally getting married, Brother is involved with some chocobo girl, Rikku is dating Buddy for crying out loud. Look," he said, pointing at the dance floor, "even Paine is dancing with somebody."

"I'm not involved with anybody," Baralai said, barely audible over the music.

"Neither am I, but seeing everybody else… Pretty soon you and I will be the only two bachelors left. Everything's changing, it's just a reminder that I'm getting old."

"Gippal, you're 19!" Baralai laughed. "If you're old than I'm ancient."

"I meant older, as in one day I will be old."

"Lighten up, we're supposed to be celebrating. You're going to depress LeBlanc and she's going to yell at us for jinxing her marriage."

"I don't think anything could depress LeBlanc right now," Gippal chuckled.

Rikku and Yuna's song ended and Yuna dragged Tidus out to dance. Rikku came back to the table to grab Buddy. "Hey, how come you two are sitting back here?" she asked. Gippal shrugged. "Ooh, I know," she continued, "Why don't you go sing something, Gippal?"

He laughed. "I'm going to need a lot of alcohol before I do that."

"Oh, that reminds me. The owner said our group's drinks were on the house tonight, cause of the engagement, and Yunie and I singing and all."

"Great, maybe I will sing then," he joked. He got up and ambled off towards the bar. Baralai stared at his back for a moment, surprised by the swift change in his mood, but then shrugged and went off to join the others.

Later when the gang decided to move on to another club nobody could find Gippal. "Why don't you guys go on ahead," Baralai offered. "I'll find Gippal and we'll meet up with you later." He had been kind of worried about Gippal, since he had seen him periodically at the bar, seeming to get drunker and drunker as the night went on.

As the others left he headed over to the bar to find Gippal, but about halfway there he stopped as he heard someone announce, "Well, we've got a newbie singer here folks, give him a little encouragement…"

Baralai stopped and turned towards the stage, already dreading the worse. And his fears were confirmed as Gippal stepped forward. "Hey, everybody, how ya doin' tonight?" He was obviously hammered. Baralai started moving towards the stage, trying to get there before Gippal did anything stupid. Too late. "This one goes out to the one I love…" and he pointed straight at Baralai. Baralai stopped dead in his tracks, his skin paling under his tan.

__

Holy Shit… I've got to get out of here. He looked around wildly, spotted the back door, and quickly made his way over to it. Behind him he could hear Gippal jumping off the stage in the sudden and deafening silence, but he refused to look back. He shoved open the door and found himself in an alley alongside the club. He leaned back against the cold stone wall and took slow, deep breaths. _It's okay, _he thought, _everybody could tell he was drunk. This will all blow over in a day, or two. _The door opened beside him and Gippal stepped out.

"I'm sorry, Baralai. I don't know what I was thinking."

Baralai started walking away. "Obviously you weren't," he replied coldly, but at seeing Gippal's crestfallen look he softened and stopped. "It's okay. Everyone could tell you were drunk. They'll soon forget it ever happened, and this will all blow over.

"I don't want it to blow over," Gippal said, with fierce and unexpected determination as he pushed Baralai back against a wall. He had Baralai trapped between his two strong arms, though if Baralai had wanted to escape he could have. But Baralai did not move. Suddenly, Gippal leaned forward and caught Baralai's face in his hands. They looked at each other for a moment, Baralai with shock in his eyes, and Gippal with a burning look in his. Then Gippal bent down and covered Baralai's mouth with his own. At first it was just a soft kiss, but since Baralai didn't break it off Gippal grew bolder, kissing harder. He tried to gain entrance into Baralai's mouth with his tongue, but it was too much and too fast for Baralai, who broke the contact roughly.

"W-what…?" he tried to stammer out, but Gippal cut him off.

"I've been trying to get the nerve to tell you for a while. This isn't going quite the way I had planned though."

"Wait a moment, you _planned _this? Were you even drunk?"

"Uh, no…" Gippal answered sheepishly. "That was in case you reacted badly and I wanted to play it off."

"Would this count as reacting badly?" Baralai asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, just a little bit. But damn it, I'm tired of hiding it."

"I still don't understand why you chose to tell me in front of a room full of strangers."

"Well, I might have been a _little_ drunk."

"I think that's the sweetest stupid thing you've ever done, and you've done a lot of stupid things."

"I'll just have to make it up to you, then," Gippal breathed. He leaned in slowly. This time Baralai responded as they kissed each other hungrily. Gippal ran his hands inside Baralai's coat, under his shirt, and up and down his back, caressing the soft skin.

When they took a break, Baralai placed his hands on Gippal's chest to hold him back. "Look, that was nice, _very _nice, but I'd just like to take things a little slower. This is all kind of new to me."

"Of course," Gippal agreed, then kissed him again.

"Gippal!"

"What? I'm not allowed to kiss you!"

"Fine, you can kiss me. But you know, it's getting kind of late, maybe I'll go back to my place."

"I'll walk you home," Gippal offered.

"Gippal," Baralai said, warningly.

"If you don't let me walk you home I'll follow you like a lost puppy and look pitiful," Gippal entreated, giving him puppy eyes.

"You are incorrigible!" Baralai laughed, but he caved in, "You can walk me home if it means that much to you." Gippal grabbed hold of his hand and they set off towards Baralai's house.

"And when you go to bed I'll tuck you in."

"Whoa, there is no way you're doing that."

"That's what you think," he muttered.

"I get the feeling you're trying to take advantage of me."

"Whatever would give you that idea, O Baralai the Untrusting."

"Hmm… I wonder."

A/N: Yes, this was a shameless ploy to get more reviews, so help make my evil plan work, R & R.


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